The Underestimated Umino
by Hen21
Summary: On his way home from a routine mission, Iruka encounters a powerful enemy.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** If I owned _Naruto_, I would be able to read Japanese and then I could read all those doujinshis I bought. But I don't, so I can't, but I still buy them anyway.

**Author's Note: **This story takes place during the time-jump, before Naruto returns from his training.

**Chapter 1: By the Riverbank**

Umino Iruka was having a good day.

The sun was shining. The birds were singing. And he was currently on his way home to Konoha after his C-ranked mission had gone off without a hitch. All he had had to do was pick up a scroll from the Land of Rock and take it back home. He didn't even have to deliver it to his final destination of Suna; the Hokage would have someone else do that. That meant there was a very good chance he might have the next day off from work entirely. And there was also a very good chance Kakashi would also have the day off after _his_ mission ended.

Just thinking about Hatake Kakashi was enough to make Iruka blush. To say that he was in love with the man was almost an understatement. He _adored_ Kakashi, his lover, his partner, his dearest person in the world. He had been in love with Kakashi for years and it still amazed him even now that Kakashi loved him back. And how Kakashi loved him back-! Iruka immediately started blushing again. The man had amazing skills. There was a very good chance that on their mutual day off neither off them would end up leaving Kakashi's house (or even his bedroom).

Iruka shook his head and put these thoughts out of his mind. He needed to stay alert. True, his mission was almost over and he would be back in Konoha within a few hours, but that didn't mean he could afford to let his guard down. Like he told his students, a ninja was always aware of his surroundings, no matter what. With that in mind, he scanned the area looking for any foreign chakra signatures or any other signs that he wasn't alone. Nothing. He smiled and continued on his way.

Half an hour later, Iruka came upon the river that ran through the village. This meant that he was very close to home. Good; it had been a simple mission but not exactly an easy one. He had done a lot of walking in the past three days and he was starting to get tired. In fact, it wouldn't hurt to take a little break right now and maybe wash off a little in the river.

Taking off his shoes and easing into the cool river, Iruka smiled again. Water really was his element; he wasn't named Umino Iruka for nothing. Iruka rolled up his pant legs and stood in knee-high water, washing off his face. It was amazing how much dust one could accumulate on a mission. It was a good thing he wasn't taking the scroll all the way to Suna; that place was _all_ dust, and very little water.

Feeling refreshed, Iruka turned back to the river bank and froze. There on the riverbank stood a tall man, his neck covered in gills, his teeth sharpened to vicious little points. A red and black cape was draped across his broad shoulders. He was smiling, but that only made him look more terrifying.

"Hello little Dolphin." Said Kisame of the Akatsuki.

**Next Chapter: Shark vs. Dolphin**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own _Naruto_.

**Author's Note:** This chapter may be a little rough. It's the first time I've written a fight scene. I based this confrontation off the fact that in nature dolphins _can_ win against sharks (sometimes). Kisame is a little OOC here too.

For anyone that didn't know, Iruka means dolphin in Japan.

**Chapter 2: Shark vs. Dolphin**

Iruka's mind was currently moving at a million meters a minute. How in the world had this man gotten behind him without Iruka noticing? Iruka recognized him immediately. He was one of the Akatsuki who had once tried to take Naruto away. He had held his own easily against two of Konoha's jounin elite. So how come Iruka hadn't sensed his charka, which was currently rolling off of him in waves? This couldn't be possible!

"Wondering how I snuck up on you?" Asked Kisame slyly, and Iruka jumped. Was this guy a mind reader?

"Yes." Said Iruka cautiously, hoping to buy some time. "I didn't sense you at all. Why is that?"

Kisame grinned. "A trick I learned from Itachi. I can suppress my charka and then shape it into the signature of something else, something harmless like a fish for example."

That explained that.

"What is it you are doing here within Konoha's borders?" asked Iruka, narrowing his eyes. Was Itachi with him?

"I came to get the scroll you're carrying Iruka-sensei."

Iruka froze again, then blurted out in surprise, "You know my name?" Maybe that was a stupid question; certainly it wasn't the main issue here but he couldn't help but be confused. There was no reason a member of the Akatsuki should know who he was, being a chunin and a schoolteacher. Sure, he had done his share of A-ranked missions, but it wasn't as if his name was in a lot of Bingo books.

Kisame smiled at him. "Sure I know your name. After all, you're pretty close to the nine-tailed brat."

Of course, that made sense. Iruka knew the Akatsuki had designs on Naruto.

"Besides, who wouldn't notice a cute little dolphin like you?"

Suddenly Iruka felt even more anxious. He didn't like the look on Kisame's face. It was definitely a leer. Iruka had been on the receiving end of plenty of those, so he knew he wasn't mistaken. But this was the first time an enemy had given him one. His heart raced faster.

"You said you're here for this scroll." Iruka challenged, hoping he sounded calmer than he felt. "Why?"

Kisame shrugged. "That's not really anything you need to know. Now hand it over." He gestured toward the pack on Iruka's shoulder.

Iruka frowned. Did this guy really think that he, a ninja of Konoha, would just hand over the scroll he had been assigned to deliver without a fight? He was starting to get pissed off.

Kisame sighed. "Now, now. You don't really think you can keep me from getting what I want, do you? I'm the shark here Iruka-sensei, in more ways than one. Dolphins and chunins should know their place in the food chain. I'm starting to get impatient here."

Iruka was now officially pissed off.

"You get even cuter when you're mad." Kisame's tone suddenly changed. "How about this? You be obedient and give me the scroll now, then you make it worth my while and I'll let you live, depending on, how should I put this, how _obedient_ you are."

No, no, no. Iruka could not let this happen. His whole life he had only been with one person and he had no plans to change that. _I will die_, he thought, _before I let him do that to me. But maybe, _his mind raced again, _I won't have to take it that far._ This wasn't the first time that someone had underestimated him. If Kisame lowered his guard enough then Iruka was going to live _and _complete his mission. Quickly he formulated a plan.

"You'd really let me go?" asked Iruka in a voice he hoped was tremulous enough.

Kisame's predatory smile widened. "Of course I would. I'm a man of my word. Besides," he purred, "I would hate to hurt someone as pretty as you."

Iruka began to cautiously step forward. At least he didn't have to pretend to be scared now; if this didn't work he was almost certainly dead. He didn't think Kisame would feel so charitable towards him once he knew Iruka had tricked him.

_But I WILL make this work! I am a ninja of Konohagakure! I will not be underestimated!_

"So pretty…" Kisame's eyes were now half-lidded with lust, his belief in Iruka's helplessness complete. "A pretty thing like you must have someone enjoying you. Am I right? Will he be mad when he learns he had to share you?" His hand reached out to caress Iruka's cheek.

"_Now_!" Iruka's mind screamed.

Moving as fast as he ever had in his whole life, Iruka threw his hands together and formed a series of signs. Immediately, a wall of fire emerged from his body and leapt forward to engulf Kisame. Kisame was caught completely off guard but nonetheless managed to dodge the flames entirely, throwing his body to the damp ground of the riverbank. Just as Iruka had hoped. Without a moment's hesitation, he slammed his bare foot into Kisame's throat, throwing the force of all his weight behind it.

Then he ran like hell.

Normally Iruka would have taken advantage of the fact that he was knee-deep in water and used a water-based jutsu against his opponent. But against Kisame he didn't think that would be very effective; after all, his element was water too. So Iruka had decided to play to one of his strengths; as a schoolteacher he knew lots of basic elemental jutsus. If he himself as a water-user was vulnerable against fire attacks then it stood to reason that Kisame would be too. Iruka knew the flames wouldn't stop Kisame but he was just trying to put him in a compromised position before making his move. And it had worked! Mainly because Kisame's guard was almost completely down, but a victory was a victory! Now Iruka just had to get back inside the village while Kisame was recovering. He didn't think the shark would be suicidal enough to follow him there, no matter how mad he was.

_Kakashi_, he thought as he whipped through the trees towards his destination, _wait for me. I'm coming back to you._

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Kisame lay by the river, clutching his throat and struggling to breathe while at the same time berating himself severely. He had failed to get the scroll; he knew Umino would be back to the village gates before he could recover. This was entirely his own fault, he knew. It had been stupid of him to put desire ahead of his mission no matter how slight and helpless Umino had seemed.

He was never going to hear the end of this.

Kisame rose to his feet, brushing himself off while mentally editing his version of the events. He'd just tell his superiors that Umino had looked so pathetic Kisame hadn't even wanted to waste his time taking his life and had just ordered him to give him the scroll. Then he had been ambushed when the chunin suddenly grew a spine. Yes, that would work. Of course he would still be in trouble but at least with this version of the story his boss wouldn't feel the need to castrate him in order to avoid trouble on future missions. Kisame turned and headed for the ends of Konoha territory.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Meanwhile in a tree a few hundred yards away from the scene of the battle, three sets of young eyes stared in amazement at what they had just seen. Finally, one of the owners of said eyes let out the breath he had been holding for the past five minutes and broke the silence around him.

"Iruka-sensei is AWESOME!"

**Next Chapter: Kakashi Hears the News**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** Let's see…nope, still don't own _Naruto_.

**Author's Note:** Thanks to everyone who's reviewed! This chapter would have been up sooner, but I got violently ill last night (thus ruining my only day off for the week-Wah!)

**Chapter 3: Kakashi Hears the News**

Hatake Kakashi was having a good day.

The sun was shining. _Itcha Itcha_ _Paradise _was in his hand. And he was now back in Konoha after his B-ranked mission had gone off without a hitch. Now it was time to get a much-needed day off and spend some time with his cute little dolphin.

Ah, his dolphin. Just thinking about Umino Iruka was enough to put a smile on his masked face. For the first time in his life Kakashi was truly in love. Iruka had become his everything, his world, his sky. Kakashi could barely put into words the depths of his feelings for the younger man. That was one of the reasons why he usually didn't try to put them into words – he preferred to show them through his actions. Which reminded him, the two of them would probably have the next day off together. He should pick up a few jars of honey now since he wouldn't be leaving the house tomorrow.

Kakashi headed to the mission desk to hand over his report. He noticed that people were gathered in small groups all over HQ, whispering intently to each other. Gossip probably. If it were news relevant to the village they wouldn't be whispering. Kakashi wasn't much on gossip. He handed in his report and headed out. Iruka might be back from his mission too and they could get some dinner and maybe a head start on tomorrow's activities.

"Kakashi!" hailed a voice behind him. He turned to see his senbon-sucking friend Genma.

"Yo." Kakashi raised a hand in greeting as Genma walked up to him.

"Did you hear the news?" Genma asked. "About Iruka-sensei?"

The bottom dropped out of Kakashi's stomach. "What about him?" he asked in voice that hopefully sounder steadier than he felt. "Is he alright?"

"He's better than alright! He single handedly took down a member of the Akatsuki!"

"What? On his mission? Was he ambushed or something? But it was C-ranked!"

"Yes, it was on his mission." Genma said, apparently not interested in how Kakashi knew it had just been a C-ranked mission. "That Kisame guy from the Akatsuki – you know, the shark guy? He tried to get the scroll Iruka was taking back and Iruka ended up kicking his ass! Kisame barely got out alive from what I hear. And he sure as hell didn't get the scroll! Iruka didn't even have a scratch on him!"

"Wait, how do you know all this? Did Iruka tell you or something?" Kakashi was confused. Details of a mission usually didn't reach the ears of every person in town. And Iruka was certainly not the type to brag.

"No, it was these three Genin. They were in the forest when it all went down. Apparently their Team Leader had assigned them to master some tree-climbing challenge."

"_Déjà vu._" Kakashi thought.

"Anyway they saw the whole thing. So while Iruka was making his report to the Godaime, they told the whole Assignment room. Now everyone knows. Iruka is like a celebrity. People keep popping in to the hospital to congratulate him."

"Wait, hospital? I thought you said he didn't have a scratch on him!" Why would Iruka be at the hospital if he was fine? Kakashi knew Iruka didn't like hospitals any more than he himself did.

Genma grinned around his senbon. "Well, here's where the story gets funny…"

**Next Chapter: Let's Visit Iruka**

**Author's Note: **It will probably be 2, maybe 3 days before the next chapter comes out. I'm too sick to go to work tomorrow and that's where I write this (during downtime). Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I still don't own _Naruto_. I'm starting to think that it's never going to happen.

**Author's Note:** Thanks so much for all the reviews! This is the last chapter, so enjoy!

**Chapter 4: Let's Visit Iruka**

Iruka was no longer sure if he was having a good day or not.

Sure, he had fought with a member of the Akatsuki and won. And he had successfully completed his mission. But he was in the hospital now convalescing, which was frankly a bit of a downer. Especially considering how he got here.

He had made it back to the village without a hitch and had headed straight to the Hokage's office to let her know what had happened. Tsunade had been just as confused as Iruka as to why the Akatsuki had wanted the scroll. Only when a messenger bird from the Land of Rock had dropped a note on her desk had the mystery been solved: Iruka had been given the wrong scroll. Some idiot in Rock had mixed up his nice, safe C-ranked scroll with a big, bad dangerous A-ranked scroll.

A booby-trapped A-ranked scroll.

A booby-trapped A-ranked scroll that had sent two rock projectiles flying out of it as soon as Tsunade's assistant Shizune tried to open it.

One of which had headed straight for the Hokage.

So Iruka immediately threw himself in front of it.

And got his leg broken.

Damn it.

Of course every ninja was prepared to get injured or even die for their Hokage, but Tsunade hadn't seemed particularly grateful for his sacrifice. Rather, she had been amused. "You do know Iruka that I can concentrate my Chakra to the point where a little stone like that won't hurt me?" She had asked with a smile on her face as Iruka lay on the floor trying very hard not to scream obscenities at her.

Some days he really missed Sandaime-sama.

Shizune at least had felt bad about what had happened. She personally escorted Iruka to the hospital and had personally mended his leg. Now he would only need to stay the night here with his leg immobilized to make sure everything went all right and he would be good as new tomorrow. And he was going to get his day off. Still, a night in the hospital was never fun. And he didn't know if Kakashi was back from his mission yet.

"Yo." Came a voice from the doorway.

Well speak of the devil.

Kakashi walked into the room. In his hand was a bouquet of daisies, Iruka's favorite flowers. He looked around for an open space to put them. The room was already full of flowers, most bearing notes of congratulations or wishes for a speedy recovery. No doubt the Yamanaka flower shop had had a profitable day.

"Hello!" Iruka straightened up slightly, a smile forming on his face. "You're back! Are you all right? How did your mission go?"

Kakashi sat down in the chair next to Iruka's bed. Pulling down his mask, he placed a chaste kiss on his lover's forehead. "I'm perfectly fine. It's you who I hear had a rough day."

Iruka leaned back and sighed. "You could say that."

I got the basic version of events from Genma-"

"Of course you did. _Everyone_ knows what happened. Kids can be so bad at being discreet."

"-but if you feel up to it will you fill me in on the details?"

Iruka, who barely felt tired at all now that Kakashi was here, began to repeat his story from the beginning. This time he told the full version of what had happened. When he had filled in the Hokage he had left out Kisame's sexual advances. Iruka knew that if Tsunade heard about that he'd never get her to stop with the jokes. Really, that woman was like a dog with a bone when it came to embarrassing incidents involving her ninjas. Anyway, it wasn't as if anything he'd left out was important to his report. He had just edited a little bit. In fact, he had unknowingly edited his story exactly the way Kisame had edited his.

"-so then Shizune told me to get some rest and here we are."

"Uh-huh." Said Kakashi, sounding somewhat distracted. He was busy devising a plan to hunt down Kisame and turn him into shark fin soup. His nin dogs would eat that, right? Of course Pakkun could be a little picky about exotic dishes but if Kakashi just told him it was yellowtail then maybe-

"Whatever you're planning, stop now." Said Iruka with a frown.

Kakashi put on what he hoped was his most innocent-looking expression. "Planning? I wasn't planning anything. I was just thinking about making some soup is all."

"Shark fin soup?" Asked Iruka, his expression letting Kakashi know that the Copy-Nin couldn't put anything past him.

"Maybe." Okay, so Kakashi had forgotten that Iruka could read him like a book.

Iruka shook his head. "There is no need for any crazy revenge plans Kakashi. I'm fine and I highly doubt I'll be running into Kisame again anytime soon-" He broke off as a tremendous yawn escaped form his mouth. Maybe he was more tired then he had realized.

Kakashi leaned forward and kissed Iruka's lips, gently and tenderly. "Okay." He said. "No revenge. Now you need to get some sleep. We both have the day off tomorrow and I want you to be well rested."

Iruka let his eyes flutter shut, making no comment on the irony of needing to rest up for his day off. "Okay." He said, preparing to sleep for a good long time. It really had been a busy day. "I love you Kakashi." He muttered into his pillow as he drifted off.

Kakashi smiled down at his dolphin. "I love you too Iruka."

THE END


End file.
